Cresset Asset Management LLC Has $1.62 Million Stock Holdings in Paychex, Inc. $PAYX

Cresset Asset Management LLC cut its holdings in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) by 16.5% in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 10,474 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 2,069 shares during the quarter. Cresset Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Paychex were worth $1,616,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of PAYX. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its stake in shares of Paychex by 20,236.7% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,153,089 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $177,899,000 after buying an additional 1,147,419 shares during the last quarter. Nuveen LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Paychex in the first quarter worth $134,192,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Paychex by 7.3% in the first quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 10,782,173 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,663,474,000 after buying an additional 737,542 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp lifted its stake in shares of Paychex by 16.9% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 4,807,554 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $674,115,000 after buying an additional 694,651 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Neuberger Berman Group LLC lifted its stake in shares of Paychex by 117.6% in the first quarter. Neuberger Berman Group LLC now owns 1,217,092 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $187,512,000 after buying an additional 657,871 shares during the last quarter. 83.47% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Paychex Trading Down 0.1%

Shares of PAYX stock opened at $138.88 on Thursday. Paychex, Inc. has a 52-week low of $125.45 and a 52-week high of $161.24. The stock has a market cap of $50.03 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.39, a P/E/G ratio of 3.18 and a beta of 0.91. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.10, a quick ratio of 1.28 and a current ratio of 1.28. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $144.28 and a 200-day moving average of $147.91.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, June 25th. The business services provider reported $1.19 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.19. Paychex had a net margin of 29.75% and a return on equity of 45.01%. The company had revenue of $1.43 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.38 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.12 EPS. Paychex has set its FY 2026 guidance at EPS. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Paychex, Inc. will post 4.99 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Paychex Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 29th. Stockholders of record on Monday, July 21st will be paid a $1.08 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, July 21st. This represents a $4.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.1%. Paychex’s dividend payout ratio is currently 94.53%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Chairman Martin Mucci sold 97,526 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $145.17, for a total value of $14,157,849.42. Following the completion of the transaction, the chairman owned 446,917 shares in the company, valued at approximately $64,878,940.89. This represents a 17.91% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO John B. Gibson sold 12,370 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $141.92, for a total transaction of $1,755,550.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 81,755 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,602,669.60. This represents a 13.14% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 11.40% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on shares of Paychex from $148.00 to $153.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 14th. Jefferies Financial Group set a $140.00 price objective on shares of Paychex and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, June 26th. Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on shares of Paychex from $150.00 to $148.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, June 27th. BMO Capital Markets started coverage on shares of Paychex in a research report on Thursday, July 10th. They set a “market perform” rating and a $160.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus dropped their target price on shares of Paychex from $156.00 to $152.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, June 26th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and a consensus target price of $150.70.

About Paychex

Paychex, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, provides integrated human capital management solutions (HCM) for payroll, benefits, human resources (HR), and insurance services for small to medium-sized businesses in the United States, Europe, and India. It offers payroll processing services; payroll tax administration services; employee payment services; and regulatory compliance services, such as new-hire reporting and garnishment processing.